Katie Porter Lost More Than Her Senate Bid on Tuesday

On Tuesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Republican candidate Steve Garvey advanced to the general election for the Senate seat that once belonged to the late Dianne Feinstein. Since California is a solid blue state, it is almost certain that Schiff will win in November. Schiff and Garvey defeated Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.

But Porter lost more than just her Senate bid on Tuesday. Her inability to win the Senate seat will also end her tenure in the House of Representatives.

"Porter, from a swing district in Orange County and a protege of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, had kept the race close until the final six weeks," reports Politico. "But she opted not to directly confront Schiff on the airwaves, where her message of promising to shake up the Senate and crusade against corporations was drowned out by Schiff’s anti-Trump profile and the money he raised as a result."

But as Garvey rose in public and private polls, her support remained relatively stagnant. In addition to the millions spent by Schiff’s campaign, money also poured in from his super PAC. And late in the contest, another super PAC funded by cryptocurrency billionaire investors spent upward of $10 million to slam Porter.

Lee struggled to raise money and garner attention, despite centering the war in Gaza by being the first — and most vocal — candidate to call for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Lee last fall had also tried for a burst of momentum by claiming the endorsement of the California Democratic Party, but fell short when Schiff blocked her.

Porter had announced her intention to seek Feinstein's seat in January 2023 after only barely winning reelection to the House during the 2022 midterms after several days of counting votes, months before Feinstein even announced an intention to not seek reelection. Feinstein would ultimately pass away in September. 

Porter did not simultaneously seek reelection in California's 47th Congressional District. With 60% of the votes in, Republican Scott Baugh is in the lead in the district's open primary with 33.3% of the vote.

Last year, a former Porter staffer came forward with allegations that the congresswoman had made racist remarks towards her team and mocked those who reported incidents of sexual harassment. 

One staffer also said that Porter “ridiculed people after they had reported sexual harassment in her office” and even “made fun of individuals whose parents passed away from COVID.”

VIBE CHECK: Rep. Katie Porter fires staffer after both test positive for COVID. Full texts from the Congresswoman firing the staffer via text. Shared with permission from staffer. pic.twitter.com/jbhn2NzrmB

— Dear White Staffers (Vote Uncommitted Everywhere) (@DWS________) December 29, 2022

Porter has repeatedly demonstrated herself as an awful human being, so nobody will miss her in the House, and I suppose we should thank her for making it more likely that Republicans can win back her seat. The only negative part of this story is that we are likely going to end up with Adam Schiff as a senator. 

Schiff infamously lied to the American public about having personally seen evidence that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election even though no such evidence exists. Republicans not only refused to allow him to sit on any committee after they took control of Congress, but the House also eventually censured him for using his status on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to promote false allegations against Trump.